Wire-drawing apparatus



1 1935- c. D. JOHNSON 2,024,769

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 8, 1935 \nvenTor Chofles DdohnsonPatented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES WIRE-DRAWING APPARATUS Charles D.Johnson, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Johnson Steel 4; Wire Company,Inc., Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationFebruary 8, 1935, Serial No. 5,559

'1 Claims.

This invention relates to wire-drawing apparatus of the type in whichthe wire is drawn in a dry state and in which a. dry lubricant isapplied to the wire to lubricate its passage through the drawing die.

A continuous wire-drawing apparatus of this type is shown in my PatentNo. 1,948,664, February 2'7, 1934 and also in my co-pending applicationSerial No. 743,212, filed September 8. 1934. In the devices shown inboth said patent and said application the drawing drum is provided witha dry lubricant-supporting flange on which the dry lubricant is placedand means are provided for applying such dry lubricant to the wire as itis being wound on the drum and to the surface of the drum at the pointwhere the wire is received thereby.

While an apparatus having this construction is effective so far asapplying lubricant to the wire is concerned, yet if the speed ofrotation of the drawing drum is increased above a certain point there isdanger that the dry lubricant will be thrown off from the flange bycentrifugal force.

The present invention has for its object to provide an improved mannerof and construction for applying the dry lubricant to the wire which isnot effected by any high speed operation of the drawing drum, but whichwill be just as effective for lubricating the wire at speeds of thedrawing drum above that at which the lubricant would be thrown off fromthe flange of the drawing drum shown in my above-mentioned patent as ata speed below this point.

The present invention is especially applicable to a wire-drawingapparatus having a plurality of drums around which the wire passessuccessively and which is provided with an-idle direction pulley betweenthe drums to guide the wire from one drum to the other. One way ofcarrying out my invention is to provide such idle direction pulley witha housing adapted to contain the dry lubricant so that in passing aroundthe direction pulley the wire will pass through the dry lubricant andthus become properly lubricated. The housing serves to retain thelubricant in place and prevent it from being scattered or thrown intothe air by any rapid rotation of the pulley.

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated inthe drawing a selected embodiment thereof which will now be describedafter which the novel features will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawing;

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a wiredrawing apparatus embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view on the line 2-2 Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the direction pulley and the lubricantcontaining housing therefor with the cover removed and with a partbroken out.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a different embodiment of the invention.

While my invention is applicable to a variety of different wire-drawingapparatus I have herein chosen to show it as it might be applied to awire-drawing apparatus such as shown in my said co-pending applicationSerial No. 743,212,10 filed September 8, 1934, but I wish it understoodthat the invention is in no ways limited in its application to awire-drawing apparatus of this type. In Fig. 1, I indicates the wirebeing drawn and 2 is a drawing die through which the wire is 15 drawnfor reducing its diameter. 3 indicates a drawing drum which is fast on apower driven shaft 4 and which operates to draw the wire through thedrawing die 2. If the wire-drawing apparatus is of the continuous typethen the wire 20 will make several turns about the drawing drum 3 asshown at 5 and will then be led to another die and to another drawingdrum.

In the device shown in Fig. 1 a freely rotatable wire-cooling drum 6such as is shown in my copending application, Serial. No. 743,212 isemployed about which the wire I passes in its travel from the die 2 tothe drawing drum 3. This wire-cooling drum is carried by the spindle 4and is freely rotatable thereon. The wire-receiving surface of thiswire-cooling drum 6 is cooled by means of a jet of wawr directed againstthe interior of the drum by means of a delivery jet I as illustrated inthe application. Situated between the wire-cooling drum 6 and thewiredrawing drum 3 is an idle direction pulley 8 around which the wirepasses and which directs it from the cooling drum 6 to the drawing drum3.

This direction pulley 8 may be mounted in any suitable way and is hereinshown as rotatably mounted on a stud 9 carried by a horizontal flangeportion III of an upright standard I I.

In accordance with my invention I provide means associated with thedirection pulley 8 to apply to the wire the dry lubricant so that the 5lubricant is thus applied to the wire while passing around the pulley 8.To accomplish this I have provided a lubricant-containing housing I2 inwhich the pulley 8 is received, the said housing being stationarilycarried by the stand or support 50 II. For this purpose the stand isshown as having an angle shape bracket I3 on which the housing rests andto which it is secured, and said housing is also formed with asupporting arm I4 which is attached at its outer end to the under sideof the housing and at its inner end to the stud 9. The bottom l5 of thehousing is shown as having the opening I6 therein through which theupper end of the stand I l extends.

The direction pulley 8 has a disk or flange I1 secured-thereto whichextends nearly to the periphery of the housing and which forms thebottom of the lubricant-containing chamber ll of the housing in whichthe lubricant II is received. The periphery of this disk I I is upturnedas shown at 23 to form an annular curb and the housing has on itsinterior a ring 2| having a l-har shape. the depending skirt portion 22of which ring overlaps the curb 20 and is situated inside of the latter.This skirt portion has a ring 23 of felt or other packing materialsecured thereto, which ring engages the curb 20. Since the disk I1 isfastened to the pulley 3 it rotates with the pulley, the packing 23serving to fill the space between the curb 23 and the skirt and therebyprevent escape of the dry lubricant is.

The sidewall ofthe housing is provided with an inlet opening 24 throughwhich the wire I extends in order to pass around the pulley 3. A piece25 of felt will preferably be employed at this point through which thewire .passes and which prevents escape of the powdered lubricant throughsaid opening 24. The side wall of the housing also is formed with adischarge opening 23 through which the wire passes after it leaves thepulley 3 and a second piece of felt may be associated with this opening28 to prevent the escape of the lubricant therefrom.

28 indicates a spring-pressed finger which is pivoted at 29 to the ring2| and the free end of which engages the wire Just as it is laid in thegroove 33 of the pulley II. This arm 28 is acted on by a suitable spring3i which yieldingly holds it in its operative position. The rotation ofthe pulley 8 and the disk 1 tends to give the lubricant a rotatingmotion within the housing. It will be noted that the body of the arm 28is relatively wide and said arm thus acts as a deflector to deflect thelubricant which may be rotating with the pulley toward the latter andthe wire.

32 indicates a removable cover for closing the housing i2 and which maybe removed for the purpose of threading the wire around the pulley whenthe machine is being started up and for filling the housing with thelubricant 19. When the device is in use the cover 32 will be in placeclosing the upper end of the lubricant-containing chamber l8.

With this construction the wire passes through the body of dry lubricantwhile it is passing around the direction pulley 8, and during itspassage through the housing the wire picks up and carries with it asufllcient amount of lubricant not only to furnish proper lubricationbetween the wire and the surface of the drawing drum 3, but also toprovide sufllcient lubrication for the wire as it enters and passesthrough the next suc ceeding drawing die. Since the lubricant isconflned in the housing l2 and is applied while the wire is passingaround the direction pulley 8, it is possible to increase the speed ofoperation of the wire-drawing apparatus without danger of scattering thelubricant or throwing it into the air as would be the case if the deviceshown in my above-mentioned patent were operated at an excessive speed.

In Fig. 5 I have shown an embodiment of my invention in which thehousing l2 has a tubular extension 33 extending therefrom at thedischarge opening and through which the wire passes in traveling fromthe direction pulley 8 to the winding drum 3. This tubular extension 33may have communication with the chamber l3 and be filled with alubricant so that the wire will not only have lubricant applied theretowhile passing around the direction pulley 3 but also while passingthrough the tubular extension 33.

I claim: 1. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawingdrum for drawing wire through the die, an idler pulley rotating about avertical axis and about which the wire passes in its travel from the dieto the drawing drum and a housing surrounding said idler pulley andprovided with a chamber in which the pulley operates and adaptedtocontain dry lubricant.

2. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, two drums aboutwhich the wire passes successively after leaving the die,- a directionpulley rotating about a vertical axis and around which the wire passesin'its travel from one drum to the other, a housing surrounding thedirection pulley and having a lubricant-containing chamber in which thepulley operates where- 20 by dry lubricant placed in said chamber willpro- ,vide lubrication for the wire.

3. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing the wire through the die, a cooling drum around which the wirepasses in its travel from the die to the drawing drum, a directionpulley between the cooling drum and the drawing drum and around whichthe wire passes, ahousing surrounding the direction pulley and providedwith the wire passes as it travels around said idler I pulley.

5. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing wire through the die, a direction pulley around which the wirepasses in its travel from the die to the drawing drum, said pulleyhaving a flange extending from its periphery and provided at its edgewith an upstanding curb, a housing enclosing the pulley and forming withthe flange a chamber to receive dry lubricant, said housing having anannular skirt portion which overlaps the curb.

6. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing wire through the die, a direction pulley rotating about avertical axis and around which the wire passes, said pulley having aflange extending from its periphery, a housing enclosing the pulley andforming with said flange a chamber to contain dry lubricant throughwhich the wire passes as it travels around the direction pulley.

7. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing wire through the die, a direction pulley rotating about avertical axis and around which the wire passes,

'means providing a chamber for containing dry lubricant and in which thedirection pulley rotates, the bottom of said chamber being rigid withthe rotating pulley and the sides and top of said chamber beingstationary.

CHARLES D. JOHNSON.

